‘It’s Undignified’: Hundreds of Workers Training Meta’s AI Could Be Laid Off
Key takeaways
- The affected workers are employed by the Dublin-based firm Covalen, which handles various content moderation and labeling services for Meta.
- The workers were informed of the layoffs over a brief video meeting on Monday afternoon and were not allowed to ask questions, according to Nick Bennett, one of the employees on the call.
- In all, more than 700 employees stand to potentially lose their jobs at Covalen, according to an email reviewed by WIRED.
Why this matters: a development in AI with implications for how people work, create, and decide.
Photograph: David Paul Morris/Getty Images Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Hundreds of workers in Ireland tasked with refining Meta’s AI models have been told that their jobs are at risk as the company embarks on a sweeping new round of layoffs, according to documents obtained by WIRED.
The affected workers are employed by the Dublin-based firm Covalen, which handles various content moderation and labeling services for Meta.
The workers were informed of the layoffs over a brief video meeting on Monday afternoon and were not allowed to ask questions, according to Nick Bennett, one of the employees on the call. “We had a pretty bad feeling [before the meeting],” he says. “This has happened before.”